Glass forming apparatus with selfaccommodating and universal plungers



June 6, 1967 J w. DONNELLY 3,323,891

GLASS FORMING AP PARATUS WITH SELF-ACCOMMODATING AND UNIVERSAL PLUNGERSOriginal Filed Nov. 17, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS.

June 6. 1967 J. w. DONNELLY 3,323,891

GLASS FORMING APPARATUS WITH SELF-ACCOMMODATING AND UNIVERSAL PLUNGERSOriginal Filed Nov. 17, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOI? JOSEPH M.DON/VELL V er l u g ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,323,891 GLASS FORMING APRARATUS WITH SELF-ACCOMMODATING AND UNIVERSAL PLUNGERS Joseph W. Donnelly, Vineland, N.J.,assignor to Maul Brothers Inc, Millville, N.J., a corporation of NewJersey Continuation of application Ser. No. 411,889, Nov. 17, 1964. Thisapplication Aug. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 573,125 2 Claims. (Cl. 65-246) Thisapplication is a continuation of application Ser. No. 411,889 filed Nov.17, 1964, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part application ofmy copending application Ser. No. 51,829, filed Aug. 25, 1960, andentitled Glass Forming Apparatus Having Self-Accommodating Plungers, nowPatent No. 3,190,188.

The present invention relates to glass forming apparatus havingself-accommodating and universal plungers.

This invention relates to glass forming apparatus having a pair ofplunger casings which are free floating so that the plungers within thecasings which form the glassware may be individually self-accommodatingWith respect to their respective molds. Also, the plungers in thepresent invention are universal in that they may be used regardless ofthe size of the mold cavity in the apparatus.

It has become increasingly popular in the glassware industry to utilizeglass forming apparatus of the type wherein a plurality of plungers areprovided in a single mechanism to simultaneously form a plurality ofhollow glass parisons. An example of such apparatus is shown in US.Patent 2,508,891. The apparatus in said patent sufiers from severaldefects, namely, the plunger are restricted to simultaneous movement,the plungers are not individually adjustable or self-accommodating withrespect to their molds, and the plungers can only be used with one sideof mold.

Due to manufacturing tolerances, the inherent defects in grainstructures of materials, and wear due to use, the alignment of thevarious plungers with respect to their molds are all slightly difierentfrom one another. The present invention overcomes this problem bypositioning the plungers in free floating cylinders capable of beingadjusted vertically as a unit. In this manner, the optimum relationshipbetween a plunger and a press-and-blow operation or a neck pin in apress-and-blow operation and the molds will be automatically attained.

In order to make ditferent sized hollow glass articles, it has beennecessary to provide a plurality of machines having ditferent sizedmolds. The size of a particular parison will determine the shape andsize of the final molded product. The present invention eliminates theneed for providing difierent machines for making different sizedarticles. Different sized molds may be provided in the machine and theplungers mounted in such a fashion so as to be able to perform theirpressing function in the molds. Hence, the apparatus of the presentinvention is rendered substantially universal.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel glassforming apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel glassforming apparatus having free floating casings vertically adjustable asaunit.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel glassforming apparatus having plungers individually self-accommodating withrespect to their molds.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novelglass forming apparatu having a plurality of plungers each individuallyoperable for the formation of glassware independent of the otherplungers, which apparatus is simpler than the devices used heretofore.

It is a further object of the present inventionto provide a novel glassforming apparatus of the plural cavity type capable of being verticallyadjusted as a unit, wherein each casing may have rotary and spatialmovement with respect to the other casing.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel glassforming apparatus having universal plungers.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel glassapparatus having universal plungers which can be used with various sizemolds which are adapted to be mounted in the apparatus so that differentsize hollow articles may be formed by the apparatus.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in thedrawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood,however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the plunger casings in a glass formingapparatus of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the plunger casings similar to FIGURE1, but illustrating the plunger casings mounted on a diiferent baseplate so as to be able to be used with larger molds.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE3.

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of a conventional press-and-blowplunger.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a portion of the glass formingapparatus of the present invention, designated generally as 10.

The portion of the glass forming apparatus 10 comprises a pair ofcylindrical casings 12 and 14. The cylindrical casing 12 is providedwith an integral flange 16 which is fixedly secured to its base 18 by aplurality of bolts 20, The casing 14 is provided with an integral flange22 which is fixedly secured to its base 24 by a plurality of bolts 26.

The base 18 and the base 24 of the casings 12 and 14 are supported upona base plate 28. The base 24 is maintained juxtaposed to the base plate28 by a mounting bracket 30. The mounting bracket 30 is provided with aflange 32 which extends over the upper surface of the flange 22 and thebody of the bracket 30 is fixedly se-' cured to the base plate 28 by abolt 34. A similar mounting bracket '30 is provided for the casing 12.Since the bracket 30 is identical with the bracket 30, it need not bediscussed in detail.

The base plate 28 is provided with a mounting post 36 which extendsdownwardly from the lower surface of the base plate 28, as seen moreclearly in FIGURE 2. Mount ing post 36 extends through a tubular sleeve38. A gear 40 is supported on the flange 42 of the sleeve 38 and isprovided with a central bore threaded through the outer periphery of themounting post 36. The lower portion of the mounting post 36 is providedwith threads adapted to cooperate with the gear 40 and structurewell-known to those skilled in the art for adjusting the vertical position of the base plate 28. For example, such structure may be of thetype shown in US. Patent 2,637,944. The actuating mechanism for themounting post 36 will be of the non-rising type and a guide pin 44 isfixedly secured to the lower surface of the base plate 28 forcooperation with a flange on the sleeve 38 so as to prevent rotarymovement of the base plate 28.

The base plate 28 is provided with a pair of spaced circular recesses 46and 48 on its upper surface. The recesses 46 and 48 are spaced from oneanother by the ridge 49 on the upper surface of the base plate 28. The

base plate 18 on the casing 12 is provided on its lowermost surface withan axially extending boss 50. The boss 50 has a height which is slightlygreater than the depth of the recess 48 so that the base 18 is spacedfrom the upper surface of the base plate 28 by a short distance. Theboss 50 is circular in transverse cross section and has transversedimensions slightly smaller than the transverse dimensions of the recess48.

The base 24 on the casing 14 is provided with a boss 52 which isidentical with the boss 50. Sincethe boss 52 cooperates with the recess46 in the same manner as the boss 50 cooperates with the recess 48, itsdimensional relationship with the recess 46 need not be repeated.

Referring in detail to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that a piston 64 isdisposed within the bore of the casing 14. A piston 64' is disposedwithin the bore of the casing 12. A piston rod 66 is fixedly secured tothe piston 64' in any convenient manner such as welding. A piston rod 68is fixedly secured to the piston 64 in a like manner. Since theconstruction of the casings 12 and 14 and the elements disposed thereinare identical, it is deemed suflicient to only describe these elementswithin one casing. Thus, only the elements within casing 14 will bedescribed in detail, and the corresponding elements within casing 12will be shown with the identical numerals which are primed.

As shown more clearly in the righthand portion of FIGURE 2, the pistonrod 68 is hollow and is provided with a tubular extension 70. Asleeve-like bushing 72 is disposed within the tubular extension 70 andis fixedly secured thereto. A hollow tube 74 is fixedly secured at oneend to the base 24 and extends upwardly through the bushing 72 and thepiston rod 68. The hollow tube 74 is in communication at its lower endwith a passage 76 in the base 24. A conduit 78 is threadedly engagedwith the base 24 and is in communication with the passage 76. Theconduit 78 is adapted to be connected with a source of cool dry airunder pressure for cooling the plungers adapted to be mounted on thepiston rods 66 and 68 as is well-known in the art.

The upper surface of the base 24 is provided with an annular groove 80.The lower surface of the piston 64 is provided with a mating groove. Asshown more clearly in FIGURE 1, the passage 82 is in communication witha conduit 84 which supplies pressurized fluid for causing the piston 74to reciprocate in a vertical direction. The valve mechanism foreffecting the admittance of pressurized fluid through the conduit 84 isdescribed in detail in my copending application Ser. No. 51,829, newPatent' It will thus be apparent that the pistons 64 and 64' areindividually actuatable. Mounted on the end of each of the piston rods66, 68, is a plunger 154 The plunger 154 is adapted to be moved to aglass forming position within a mold.

The relationship between the casings 12, 14 and the base plate 28enables the plunger 154 to be self-accommodating with respect to itsmold. The casings 12 and 14 are free floating with respect to each otherand the base plate 28. So that the plungers on the piston rods 66 and 68may be self-accommodating with respect to their molds and have rotary aswell as spatial relative movement. The difference in transversedimensions between the bosses 50 and 52 with relation to the recesses 46and 48 permits spatial relative movement. Further, the bosses 50 and 52are adapted to rotate in their respective mounting recesses. Themounting brackets 30 and 30' do not interfere with the rotary or spatialmovement of the casings Hand 14 since the flanges 32 and 32' are spacedfrom the upper surface on the flanges 16 and 22. The flanges 32 and 32prevent the casings 12 and 14 from moving vertically in the event thatthe plungers become stuck to the parison.

The casings 12 and 14 are movable vertically as a unit by the mountingpost 36 which is fixedly secured to the lower surface of the base plate28. Thus, it will be seen that the casings 12 and 14' have rotaryandspatial movement as well as vertical reciprocation as a unit. In thismanner, the optimum relationship between a plunger and a press-and-blowoperation or a neck pin in a press-andblow operation and the molds willbe automatically attained. At the same time, the pistons 64 and 64 areeach individually operable independent of the other so that theapparatus 10 of the present invention may be utilized as a single or aplural cavity mechanism.

Conduits (not shown) Will be provided for delivering pressurized fluidto the space above the pistons 64 and 64' for positively biasing thepistons 64 and 64 to the position shown in FIGURE 2. An additionalsupport arm may be provided having circular recesses 92 and 94 for eachof the casings 12 and 14. The recesses 92 and 94 are spaced apart in themanner corresponding to the spacing of the recesses 46 and 48 in thebase plate.

With specific reference now to FIGURES 3 and 4, it will be observed thatthe casings 12 and 14 can be universally employed in the glasswareforming apparatus. If it is desired to form larger parisons, in order toform larger glassware as the end product, a base plate 28' can besubstituted for the base plate 28. The base plate 28 includes a mountingpost 36 which is provided with threads adapted to cooperate with thegear 40 in the same manner as the mounting post 36. The only differencebetween the base plates 28 and 28 is that the recesses 46' and 48' inthe base plate 28 are spaced apart a different distance than therecesses 46 and 48 on the base plate 28. The size of the recesses 46'are identical to the recesses 46 and 48 and cooperate with the bosses 50and 52 in an identical manner. However, when the casings 12 and 14 aremounted upon the base plate 28', their longitudinal axes are spaced at agreater distance than when the casings were mounted upon the base plate28. When forming larger parisons, diiferent molds are provided whoselongitudinal axes are spaced apart a greater distance. This is necessarysince the material between the molding cavities in glass molds must besubstantially uniform for all parison sizes so as to prevent heattransfer between the molding cavities and present a sufli-cient surfacearea for dissipating heat generated within the molding cavities.

The casing 12 and 14 are adapted to be shifted laterally with respect toeach other and also rotate with respect to each other when mounted onthe base plate 28.

Since the molding cavities provided for forming a larger parison havelongitudinal axes which are spaced further apart than those moldingcavities which form smaller parisons, the base plate 28' is made toconform to the different spacing of the longitudinal axes of the molds.Hence, when seeking to form different size parisons in the glass formingapparatus, it is only necessary to change the molds, the casing supportapparatus, and the plungers 154. The axes of the base plate and themolds should coincide and of course a different size plunger 154 can bescrewed upon the piston rods 66 and 68.

In this manner, the cylindrical casing 12 and 14 comprising the majorportion of the plunger mechanisms are rendered universal.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the forego ing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

It is claimed:

1. In an apparatus for forming glassware comprising first and secondinterchangeable substantially planar base plates, a pair of separatespaced guides on the upper surface of each base plate, the distancebetween the guides on the first plate being greater than thecorresponding distance on the second plate, a pair of separate casingseach supported on one bf said guides, said casings being upright andparallel to one another with their longitudinal axes substantiallyperpendicular to the plane of their base plate, a piston rodreciprocally disposed within each casings, means connected to eachcasing for introducing fluid into the casings to actuate the pistonrods, means connected to a central portion of each base plate for movingthe base plate in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinalaxes of said casings, first and second interchangeable substantiallyplanar arms, each arm having a pair of spaced apertures, the distancebetween the apertures on the first arm spaced apart by a distancegreater than the corresponding distance on the second arm, means forsupporting each arm above said casing with each of the apertures alignedwith one of the casings, each casing having its upper end guided by oneof the apertures in one of the arms, whereby one arm and one base plateform a set of interchangeable elements to be used simultaneously forpositioning the casings and thereby facilitate changing from manufactureof glassware from one size to another.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein each guide being arecess on the base plates, a portion of each casing has a transversedimension slightly less than the corresponding transverse dimension ofits mating recess on each base plate, said casing portions beingreceived within said recesses to enable the longitudinal axis of onecasing to be adjusted toward and away from the longitudinal axis of theother casing mounted on the base plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,611,363 12/1926 ONeil 361 X2,309,378 1/ 1943 Berthold 65243 2,508,240 5/ 1950 Fenn 25489 2,508,8915/ 1950 Rowe 65243 2,702,444 2/1955 Rowe 65-167 3,190,188 6/1965Connelly.

DONALL H. SYLVESTER, Primary Examiner, M. W. MIGA, Assistant Examiner,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,323,891 June 6 1967 Joseph W. Donnelly It is certified that error appearsin the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 23, "plungers" should read plunger mechanisms Column 2,line 7, "plungers" should read plunger mechanisms Signed and sealed this30th day of December 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR FORMING GLASSWARE COMPRISING FIRST AND SECONDINTERCHANGEABLE SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR BASE PLATES, A PAIR OF SEPARATESPACED GUIDES ON THE UPPER SURFACE OF EACH BASE PLATE, THE DISTANCEBETWEEN THE GUIDES ON THE FIRST PLATE BEING GREATER THAN THECORRESPONDING DISTANCE ON THE SECOND PLATE, A PAIR OF SEPARATE CASINGSEACH SUPPORTED ON ONE OF SAID GUIDES, SAID CASINGS BEING UPRIGHT ANDPARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER WITH THEIR LONGITUDINAL AXES SUBSTANTIALLYPERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THEIR BASE PLATE, A PISTON RODRECIPROCALLY DISPOSED WITHIN EACH CASINGS, MEANS CONNECTED TO EACHCASING FOR INTRODUCING FLUID INTO THE CASINGS TO ACTUATE THE PISTONRODS, MEANS CONNECTED TO A CENTRAL PORTION OF EACH BASE PLATE FOR MOVINGTHE BASE PLATE IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINALAXES OF SAID CASINGS, FIRST AND SECOND INTERCHANGEABLE SUBSTANTIALLYPLANAR ARMS, EACH ARM HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED APERTURES, THE DISTANCEBETWEEN THE APERTURES ON THE FIRST ARM SPACED APART BY A DISTANCE GRETERTHAN THE CORRESPONDING DISTANCE ON THE SECOND ARM, MEANS FOR SUPPORTINGEACH ARM ABOVE SAID CASING WITH EACH OF THE APERTURES ALIGNED WITH ONEOF THE CASINGS, EACH CASING HAVING ITS UPPER END GUIDED BY ONE OF THEAPERTURES IN ONE OF THE ARMS, WHEREBY ONE ARM AND ONE BASESIMULTANEOUSLY FOR POSITIONING THE CASINGS AND THERBY FACILITATECHANGING FROM MANUFACTURE OF GLASSWARE FROM ONE SIZE TO ANOTHER.